3,416 research outputs found
Efficient Computation of Power, Force, and Torque in BEM Scattering Calculations
We present concise, computationally efficient formulas for several quantities
of interest -- including absorbed and scattered power, optical force (radiation
pressure), and torque -- in scattering calculations performed using the
boundary-element method (BEM) [also known as the method of moments (MOM)]. Our
formulas compute the quantities of interest \textit{directly} from the BEM
surface currents with no need ever to compute the scattered electromagnetic
fields. We derive our new formulas and demonstrate their effectiveness by
computing power, force, and torque in a number of example geometries. Free,
open-source software implementations of our formulas are available for download
online
Computation of Casimir Interactions between Arbitrary 3D Objects with Arbitrary Material Properties
We extend a recently introduced method for computing Casimir forces between
arbitrarily--shaped metallic objects [M. T. H. Reid et al., Phys. Rev.
Lett._103_ 040401 (2009)] to allow treatment of objects with arbitrary material
properties, including imperfect conductors, dielectrics, and magnetic
materials. Our original method considered electric currents on the surfaces of
the interacting objects; the extended method considers both electric and
magnetic surface current distributions, and obtains the Casimir energy of a
configuration of objects in terms of the interactions of these effective
surface currents. Using this new technique, we present the first predictions of
Casimir interactions in several experimentally relevant geometries that would
be difficult to treat with any existing method. In particular, we investigate
Casimir interactions between dielectric nanodisks embedded in a dielectric
fluid; we identify the threshold surface--surface separation at which
finite--size effects become relevant, and we map the rotational energy
landscape of bound nanoparticle diclusters
Fluctuating surface-current formulation of radiative heat transfer: theory and applications
We describe a novel fluctuating-surface current formulation of radiative heat
transfer between bodies of arbitrary shape that exploits efficient and
sophisticated techniques from the surface-integral-equation formulation of
classical electromagnetic scattering. Unlike previous approaches to
non-equilibrium fluctuations that involve scattering matrices---relating
"incoming" and "outgoing" waves from each body---our approach is formulated in
terms of "unknown" surface currents, laying at the surfaces of the bodies, that
need not satisfy any wave equation. We show that our formulation can be applied
as a spectral method to obtain fast-converging semi-analytical formulas in
high-symmetry geometries using specialized spectral bases that conform to the
surfaces of the bodies (e.g. Fourier series for planar bodies or spherical
harmonics for spherical bodies), and can also be employed as a numerical method
by exploiting the generality of surface meshes/grids to obtain results in more
complicated geometries (e.g. interleaved bodies as well as bodies with sharp
corners). In particular, our formalism allows direct application of the
boundary-element method, a robust and powerful numerical implementation of the
surface-integral formulation of classical electromagnetism, which we use to
obtain results in new geometries, including the heat transfer between finite
slabs, cylinders, and cones
The biochemical, physiological, and metabolic evaluation of human subjects wearing pressure suits and on a diet of precooked freeze dehydrated foods
Biochemical, physiological and metabolic evaluation of human subjects wearing pressure suits and on diet of precooked frozen dehydrated food
Biochemical and physiological evaluation of human subjects in a life support systems evaluator
Biochemical and physiological evaluation of human nutritional requirements under simulated aerospace condition
Fluctuating volume-current formulation of electromagnetic fluctuations in inhomogeneous media: incandecence and luminescence in arbitrary geometries
We describe a fluctuating volume--current formulation of electromagnetic
fluctuations that extends our recent work on heat exchange and Casimir
interactions between arbitrarily shaped homogeneous bodies [Phys. Rev. B. 88,
054305] to situations involving incandescence and luminescence problems,
including thermal radiation, heat transfer, Casimir forces, spontaneous
emission, fluorescence, and Raman scattering, in inhomogeneous media. Unlike
previous scattering formulations based on field and/or surface unknowns, our
work exploits powerful techniques from the volume--integral equation (VIE)
method, in which electromagnetic scattering is described in terms of
volumetric, current unknowns throughout the bodies. The resulting trace
formulas (boxed equations) involve products of well-studied VIE matrices and
describe power and momentum transfer between objects with spatially varying
material properties and fluctuation characteristics. We demonstrate that thanks
to the low-rank properties of the associatedmatrices, these formulas are
susceptible to fast-trace computations based on iterative methods, making
practical calculations tractable. We apply our techniques to study thermal
radiation, heat transfer, and fluorescence in complicated geometries, checking
our method against established techniques best suited for homogeneous bodies as
well as applying it to obtain predictions of radiation from complex bodies with
spatially varying permittivities and/or temperature profiles
Casimir repulsion between metallic objects in vacuum
We give an example of a geometry in which two metallic objects in vacuum
experience a repulsive Casimir force. The geometry consists of an elongated
metal particle centered above a metal plate with a hole. We prove that this
geometry has a repulsive regime using a symmetry argument and confirm it with
numerical calculations for both perfect and realistic metals. The system does
not support stable levitation, as the particle is unstable to displacements
away from the symmetry axis.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures; added references, replaced Fig.
Boosting clinical performance: The impact of enhanced final year placements.
BACKGROUND: This study follows on from a study that investigated how to develop effective final year medical student assistantship placements, using multidisciplinary clinical teams in planning and delivery. AIMS: This study assessed the effects on objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) performance of the in-course enhanced "super-assistantship" placement introduced to a randomly selected sample of 2013-14 final year medical students at Leeds medical school. METHODS: Quantitative data analysis was used to compare the global grades of OSCE stations between students who undertook this placement against those who did not. RESULTS: There was a small overall improvement in the "super-assistantship" student scores across the whole assessment (effect size = 0.085). "Pre-op Capacity", "Admissions Prescribing" and "Hip Pain" stations had small-medium effect sizes (0.226, 0.215, and 0.214) in favor of the intervention group. Other stations had small effect sizes (0.107-0.191), mostly in favor of the intervention group. CONCLUSIONS: The "super-assistantship" experience characterized by increasing student responsibility on placement can help to improve competence and confidence in clinical decision-making "in a simulated environment". The clinical environment and multidisciplinary team must be ready and supported to provide these opportunities effectively. Further in-course opportunities for increasing final year student responsibility should be developed
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